My favorite time to be on the Blue Ridge Parkway?
When it’s closed.
As of Thursday, 81.8 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina are closed because of wintery weather conditions. (With few exceptions, the entire 469.1-mile parkway isn’t plowed during the winter. When it snows or the road ices over, the road stays closed until the snow or ice melts.) When those sections are closed to automotive traffic they become some of North Carolina’s best outdoor playgrounds.
Price Lake is one of those rare mountain trails accessible to a wide range of pedestrians. It’s 2.3-mile length may seem intimidating to the non-hiker: Rather than 2.3 miles, think of it as 25 100- to 200-yard walks interrupted by pauses to oooh and ahhh.
It’s one of the cheapest recreation deals going: for as little as $5 an hour you can captain your own ship on any number of waterways throughout North Carolina. These bargain basement deals are offered at various county, municipal and state parks throughout the state.
Last week, according to SkiSoutheast.com, between 18 and 22 inches of snow fell in North Carolina’s high country, more snow is falling (Ski Beech reported 9 inches of new snow overnight), and snow is expected to fall throughout the week. That’s good news for the state’s downhill ski industry, although cold temperatures alone is enough to make ski areas and their sophisticated snowmaking operations happy. The true benefactors of this ongoing dump of Mother Nature’s own?
Not a mall person? Avoid the maddening crowds this Black Friday and throughout the remainder of the Thanksgiving holiday with one of these five hikes, culled from “100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina.”
Coast
Neusiok Trail, Croatan National Forest
Havelock
20.1 miles (with shorter section hike options)
Getting there: From U.S. 70 in Havelock, go left on NC 101. After 5.3 miles, go left on Ferry Road/NC 306. Go another 3.3 miles, then go left on FR 132; it’s a little over a mile and a half to the trailhead.
More info here and here.